S3 - A Romulan arc?

[Unicron]

I was watching "The Enemy" on Spike today and it got me thinking. S3 contained some good Romulan eps, and it might have been interesting to have built something up from the Romulan spies infiltrating Galorndon Core. Perhaps not necessarily a big arc like DS9 did, but something more of a follow-up that would tie in with eps like "The Defector." Thoughts?

 

[Computer]

I cant remember, did we ever find out what the Romulans were doing at Galrndon Core?

Also id just like to add that for reasons passing understanding Galorndon Core is perhaps the best name Trek has ever made for a planet.

 

[Unicron]

No. It was clearly an espionage mission, but it was never really followed up on.

 

[T J]

I think the Romulans were going to set up a base of operations on Galorndon Core but decided not to when Centurion Bachra(sp?) reported the negative affects due to the magnetic disturbances. Or they could have just examined him and determined that for themselves. Either way Galorndon Core proved to be unsuitable. The real question is did they finally put their secret base... the moon?!

 

[Computer]

Come to think of it Nemesis could have perhaps been salvaged if the story was about the Remans being the ones that actually built the secret base and the Scimetar was launched from Galorndon Core.

 

[Anwar]

I think a Romulan arc beginning with "The Enemy", continuing in "The Defector" and going all the way to "Unification" would've been nice. It could all have been tied together witht he Rommies trying to destabilize the region, first by setting up a secret base but then deciding to take over the Klingons in secret when they think they can't do it on their own, and then trying to take Vulcan when all else failed.

 

[Tomalak]

Computer said:
Galorndon Core is perhaps the best name Trek has ever made for a planet.

Someone else who thinks so! There are tons of great names for Neutral Zone planets - Alpha Onias III, Nelvana III, and of course, the Devron system.

There was a Romulan arc of sorts, running from their re-emergence in season 1, through to their espionage in season 3, fake Ambassador T'Pel, the attempts to break the Klingon-Federation alliance in The Mind's Eye and Redemption, and finally the botched invasion of Vulcan. After that, there must have been a political change away from confrontation, as the Federation and the Romulans seem to be on fairly good speaking terms in late TNG and DS9.

 

[Praetorian]

Galorndon Core *was* mentioned again, in Unification...

"In 2368, Galorndon Core was the rendezvous point for the delivery of a stolen deflector array to a Barolian freighter. (TNG: "Unification I")"

So they explained, but barely. TNG was like this, sometimes it would connect the dots, but in a very understated way. like when the connection between the Borg and the events in "The Neutral Zone" was made. Blink and you miss it.

 

[Computer]

Tomalak said:

Computer said:
Galorndon Core is perhaps the best name Trek has ever made for a planet.

Someone else who thinks so! There are tons of great names for Neutral Zone planets - Alpha Onias III, Nelvana III, and of course, the Devron system.

There was a Romulan arc of sorts, running from their re-emergence in season 1, through to their espionage in season 3, fake Ambassador T'Pel, the attempts to break the Klingon-Federation alliance in The Mind's Eye and Redemption, and finally the botched invasion of Vulcan. After that, there must have been a political change away from confrontation, as the Federation and the Romulans seem to be on fairly good speaking terms in late TNG and DS9.

Why the hell did they stick all the good system names in the NZ?

Also we *were* on good speaking terms, one would think wed be a tad pissed about them wanting to exterminate the homeworld of the human race but apparently we dont hold any grudges in the 24th century :thumbsup:

 

[Anwar]

Well, seeing as how it was a bunch of renegades who had assassinated the real government who tried to destroy Earth, I don't think the Feds would be all that angry at the Rommies.

 

[Unicron]

Tomalak said:
There was a Romulan arc of sorts, running from their re-emergence in season 1, through to their espionage in season 3, fake Ambassador T'Pel, the attempts to break the Klingon-Federation alliance in The Mind's Eye and Redemption, and finally the botched invasion of Vulcan. After that, there must have been a political change away from confrontation, as the Federation and the Romulans seem to be on fairly good speaking terms in late TNG and DS9.

Yeah, I suppose. I guess one reason I got curious is that I've always felt the Romulans are underused (along with a lot of other key Trek races ) and it seems as if TNG handled them best in certain eps, when they were used. As bad as "The Neutral Zone" is, the first appearance of the Romulans has always been a favorite moment for me (setting aside that I think the scale is off - the Enterprise looks ridiculously small compared to the warbird). That ep and the gorgeous warbird design were a nice sign that the Romulans were back, and in force.

 

[Anwar]

The Warbird is supposed to be a lot bigger than the Galaxy-class, but I think that screenshot is more a perspective thing than a size comparison.

 

[Tomalak]

That's a great moment. The Romulans hadn't really been in Star Trek that much, despite being talked of in the same breath as the Klingons. They were only in three original series episodes, and were barely in the movies, so seeing them rock up in a MASSIVE ship was pretty awsome!

TNG tended to use them as the generic enemy, as TOS used Klingons - think of all those episodes with a warbird providing the threat, like Tin Man, Contagion, Future Imperfect, The Pegasus and Data's Day. That said, aside from the piss-poor attempts in Unification and Nemesis, it was a shame we never really got to learn much about them. They are certainly not as developed as the Klingons or (my other favourites) the Cardassians. It adds an air of mystery, but it would still have been nice if TNG had explored them more. 'Face of the Enemy' is a great episode, as it basically shows a ship and a crew not to dissimilar from the Enterprise. It's pretty clear the Tal Shiar were the main oppressive force, and there was a lot of resentment from ordinary folk. I love the Romulan commander at the end of 'The Chase' who decides that humans and Romulans may not be so different after all.

And obviously, Tomalak is a great foil for Picard!

 

[Computer]

One of my favoite Tomolak lines (from AGT I think)

"Have you informed Starfleet Command of this proposal?"

Picard: "No"

"I like it already"

 

[Trekfan21]

I personally hated the appearance of Tomalak in AGT. I remember reading he put some of he flamboyance of his character on B5 into this performance of Tomalak. He was too comical and not nearly menacing enough.

I agree, cute line, but it came from the wrong character. Also, he must have had a dye job seeing as he was grey in season 3 and all of the sudden black hair in AGT.

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

It's late and my brain's fuzzy but wasn't Galorndon Core mentioned in "Chain of Command"? Something about the cardassians kidnapping Picard and wanting to know his knowledge of the deployment of forces in the Galorndon Core sector? Or am I remembering the wrong name?

 

[Anwar]

No, they wanted information on Minos Korva

 

[Tomalak]

Another great name.

 

[InklingStar]

Especially the way David Warner says it.

 

[Robert Treat]

Unicron said:

Tomalak said:
There was a Romulan arc of sorts, running from their re-emergence in season 1, through to their espionage in season 3, fake Ambassador T'Pel, the attempts to break the Klingon-Federation alliance in The Mind's Eye and Redemption, and finally the botched invasion of Vulcan. After that, there must have been a political change away from confrontation, as the Federation and the Romulans seem to be on fairly good speaking terms in late TNG and DS9.

Yeah, I suppose. I guess one reason I got curious is that I've always felt the Romulans are underused (along with a lot of other key Trek races ) and it seems as if TNG handled them best in certain eps, when they were used. As bad as "The Neutral Zone" is, the first appearance of the Romulans has always been a favorite moment for me (setting aside that I think the scale is off - the Enterprise looks ridiculously small compared to the warbird). That ep and the gorgeous warbird design were a nice sign that the Romulans were back, and in force.

The Neutral Zone was intended to be the first part of an arc that brought the Federation and the Romulans into an alliance against the Borg, but a writer's strike at the end of the first season nixed that idea.